Pranks In Print

PRANKS IN PRINT

A COLLECTION OF FAKE STORIES, PHONY ADS AND OTHER MEDIA MISCHIEF

You Can Fool All of the People Some of the Time...

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A WHOPPER OF A STORY

(Pranks in Print: Chapter 2 )

When a reputable corporation goes to the expense of running a full-page ad in a national publication, announcing a new product, it’s reasonable to believe the product therein is legitimate. And usually it is—but not always.

Witness the case of Burger King, in 1998, when it used USA Today as the vehicle to announce their soon to be available “Left-Handed Whopper,” the latest sandwich from the “Have it Your Way” fast food enterprise. The ad claimed the new burger was intended for company’s 1.4 million left-handed customers that visit its restaurants every day.

The new Whopper would include all the same ingredients as other Whoppers, but all the condiments would be rotated 180-degrees for the convenience of southpaw patrons. Not only that, it had been re-engineered for the unique needs of a left-handed grip. The new design would “reduce condiment ‘spills’ for left-handed hamburger lovers.”

Jim Watkins, Senior Vice-President for Marketing for Burger King at that time reportedly said: “We have always been proud of the fact that we offered 1,024 ways to order our flagship WHOPPER sandwich. Now we are offering 1,025 ways. It's the ultimate ‘HAVE IT YOUR WAY’ for our left-handed customers,”

The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax. But not before thousands of customers had walked into their favorite Burger King restaurant and asked for the left-handed Whopper. At the same time, many customers were specific in their request for a traditional right-handed burger.

Incredibly, neither the right-handed nor left-handed customers requesting specific-hand burgers realized that since a burger is round, a right-handed burger can become a left-handed sandwich, and vice-versa, simply by rotating it 180-degrees.